Feathercrown

This is it, I think. The response that the right must be misunderstood or stupid is a way to avoid accepting the fact that there are evil people in this world.

To quote one of my favorite books: "I look down on you, because that is where you are located." Maybe if republicans stopped being sad, racist, and stupid, we'd stop thinking that they are. Have some personal responsibility. I don't think it counts as "elitism" to suggest that freedom or equality should be respected.

Professional blood donor

Good point, that is a statement about our reality-- or at least, yours.

Bruh

😳

If we want to maximise happiness and freedom

But that's what I'm saying, that choice is axiomatic. I think most people would agree, but it's a belief, not an unquestionable truth. You're choosing something to optimize and defining that to be good.

If it matters that they be kind to you, it is the exact same reasoning for why you should be to kind to them

Only if you believe that everyone fundamentally deserves the same treatment. It's easy to overlook an axiom like that because it seems so obvious, but it is something that we have chosen to believe.

That's fascinating

It's telling that their counter only goes up to a month

I think that's fair. I generally follow that philosophy in my personal life; many members of my family are religious to various degrees, but we don't really discuss it much, and their beliefs don't really effect my perception of them, because we don't try to force our beliefs on each other.

I do think our current physics theories are inaccurate at the extremes. To quote Zach Weinersmith:

Now, we’ve basically got it all worked out, except for small stuff, big stuff, hot stuff, cold stuff, fast stuff, heavy stuff, dark stuff, turbulence, and the concept of time.

So you're looking for absolute truths about our physical reality? You're right that it's impossible then, other than tautological or trivial truths like the above that rely on a conditional ("if that box really exists, then it really exists"). The possibility of reality being simulated, Boltzmann brains, Last Wednesdayism, etc. preclude unqualified absolute truths about our physical reality because our observations cannot be truly verified.